Bolivia Arrests Ex-Police Spy Chief, 23 Oct

BOLIVIA · ORGANISED CRIME

Bolivia arrested Juan Marcelo Ferrufino, a former national intelligence director of the police, on Friday 23 October 2026 over what happened after the March raid that captured Uruguayan drug lord Sebastián Marset, a US fugitive. Prosecutors say Ferrufino, one of three senior officers who led that raid, is under investigation over items removed from the house where Marset was found.

For US readers the case matters because Marset was flown to the United States within hours of his capture and now faces a federal trial in Virginia. Any doubt about how Bolivian police handled evidence, cash or valuables that day could reach that courtroom, although no source reviewed shows that it has.

Prosecutors listed five alleged offences and reopened a probe they had closed earlier, but the grounds for the warrant have not been explained in detail in public. Ferrufino’s lawyer told reporters he did not know the charges, and the defence of the three officers called the warrants an extreme abuse.

Five Alleged Offences Behind the Arrest

Ferrufino was arrested on Friday afternoon in El Alto, the city beside La Paz, and taken to the cells of the special anti-crime police force known as Felcc, according to El Deber and the ANF news agency. Unitel placed the arrest in La Paz itself, so the exact spot differs between outlets.

Santa Cruz prosecutor Jimmy López said the warrant covers five offences: embezzlement of public property, breach of duty, theft, concusión (an official demanding an undue payment) and passive bribery. El Día described these as preliminary classifications, and El Deber noted that prosecutors have not said which act matches which offence.

The warrant also names two other senior officers, Colonel Óscar Fernando Moreno, a former national intelligence chief now in reserve, and Erik Salvador Correa. Vice President Edmand Lara welcomed the arrest in a statement and said he expects both to be caught soon.

López said an earlier complaint had been rejected and that new evidence led prosecutors to reopen it. El Deber reported that the first probe began in April, after word of a third safe holding luxury watches that had not been declared, and ended when investigators found too little evidence.

Ferrufino was giving a statement to investigators on Friday night, his lawyer Marcelo Galván told Unitel. López said he will then be brought before a judge who decides his legal situation.

How the 13 March Raid Unfolded

A lawyer for Colonel Moreno told El Deber that the operation began around 02:00 in the Las Palmas district of Santa Cruz. At about 02:55 one team entered the main house and found Marset asleep, and he was then driven to Viru Viru airport.

The convoy reached the airport at 03:45 and entered a hangar at 04:00, the lawyer said, and Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo was told only after the arrest. In March Oviedo said Bolivian police carried out the capture and that the DEA’s role was limited to the flight to the United States.

At the airport Moreno questioned Marset on video, and Marset called then attorney general Róger Mariaca a friend who used to warn him. That recording became one of the clues in the case against Mariaca, who rejected US accusations against him and is held in preventive detention in a Potosi prison on suspicion of links to drug trafficking.

Opinión reported that the recording spread in late September, as Washington published a list restricting US visas for Bolivian prosecutors, judges and police. Our explainer US Visa Sanctions on Bolivia Judges Explained covers that list, and our earlier report Top DEA Fugitive Marset Captured in Bolivia, Flown to U.S. covers the capture.

The US$4 Million Claim and the Denials

A report credited to the broadcaster Erbol and carried by Opinión on 20 October said a neighbour’s security camera shows police carrying out several suitcases after Marset was taken away and letting four women into the house. Unnamed sources said the cases held at least US$4 million and watches engraved with Marset’s name, and that none of it reached the DEA.

Vice President Lara repeated the reports of missing money and luxury watches and asked prosecutors to investigate. These claims are allegations under investigation and are not proven facts.

Freddy Velásquez, the lawyer for Colonel Moreno, told El Deber that the story about suitcases is entirely false and that an inventory exists. He said the safe with watches and cash was handed to prosecutors with a record, and that electronic equipment went to the DEA.

The defence of the three officers called the warrants an extreme abuse and warned of risks to the safety of the officers. Prosecutors have not yet published the specific acts they attribute to each officer.

Why the Arrest Matters for the US Case

Marset is held in Alexandria, Virginia, where a federal judge heard defence motions to dismiss money-laundering and narco-terrorism charges, according to a report published on 23 September by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Judge Rossie Alston is due to decide by 6 November, the same report said.

The same outlet reported in July that the judge set the trial for 11 January 2027, and its September report still described it as early 2027. The defence argues that Marset was questioned improperly after his capture in Bolivia, which ties the US case to how the Bolivian operation was run.

The sources reviewed do not link Ferrufino’s case to the US charges, and they show no US reaction to the arrest. Washington has however pressed Bolivian officials before, with visa limits on judges, prosecutors and police in September.

What It Means for You

For US readers, the arrest shows Bolivian prosecutors investigating their own officers over the capture of a US-wanted trafficker, an operation that ended with a DEA flight to the United States. It adds to a run of cases in which Bolivian judges, prosecutors and police have faced US visa limits or arrest at home.

Travellers are not directly affected, but anyone doing business in Bolivia can follow the cases in our guides Bolivia Politics Explained, Who Holds Power in 2026 and Who Runs Bolivia’s Economy, the Key Players in 2026. Our What to Do in La Paz in October 2026 guide covers daily life in the seat of government.

What Is Not Known

The warrant has not been published, so the specific acts behind the five offences are unknown, and reports differ on whether Ferrufino is a colonel or a lieutenant colonel. It is also not established whether the cash and watches described in the reports existed, how much was involved, or who handled them.

Opinión said the video circulating online was edited and was meant to stay restricted to prosecutors. Its unnamed sources also pointed at two government ministers, whom we do not name because no evidence against them has been published.

It is not known when Ferrufino will face a judge or whether Moreno and Correa have been found. The Virginia dates come from OCCRP reports, and we could not check them on the court docket.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Juan Marcelo Ferrufino?

Ferrufino is a former national intelligence director of the Bolivian police, arrested on Friday 23 October. He was one of three officers who took part in the March capture of drug lord Sebastián Marset.

What is Ferrufino accused of?

Prosecutors cite five preliminary offences: embezzlement, breach of duty, theft, concusión and passive bribery. They have not said which acts match which offence, and his lawyer says he does not know the charges.

Is the US$4 million claim proven?

It is not proven. Newspaper sources and the vice president say suitcases with at least US$4 million and watches left the house, while the lawyer for Colonel Moreno calls this entirely false.

Does the case affect the US trial of Marset?

No source reviewed links the two cases. OCCRP reports that a Virginia judge is due to rule by 6 November on defence motions to dismiss charges, and the trial is set for early 2027.

What happens next?

Ferrufino is to be brought before a judge who decides his legal situation. Prosecutors are also seeking Colonel Moreno and Erik Salvador Correa under the same warrant.

Sources: El Deber, 23 October 2026; El Deber on the reopened case, 23 October 2026; El Deber on the account of Colonel Moreno’s lawyer, 23 October 2026; ANF, 23 October 2026; Unitel, 24 October 2026; El Día, 23 October 2026; eju.tv, 23 October 2026; Opinión, 20 October 2026; OCCRP, 23 September 2026; OCCRP, 1 July 2026.

Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error

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